Myrica faya in its Native Habitats

Efforts at classical biocontrol for M. faya were begun in the mid 1950s, and
have continued sporadically, with exploratory excursions by entomologists from
Hawaii to its native habitats: the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands in the
North Atlantic. More recently, plant pathologists, including myself, have made
similar excursions to these regions in search of plant pathogens as possible biocontrol
agents.

Myrica faya in a botanical garden on the island of
Sao Miguel, the Azores.

M. faya (dark vegetation) growing on a hillside (left) and on a seacliff
(right) on the island of Faial, Azores. The specific name faya is thought
to have been derived from the name of this island.

Young, vigorous M. faya growing as an understory in a
plantation of introduced pines, island of Faial.

As demonstrated in Hawaii, M. faya has the ability to
colonize recent lava. Like Hawaii, the Azores are of volcanic origin, and
volcanism is ongoing in both archipelagoes. A dense stand of M. faya is
shown here colonizing a recent lava flow (dark vegetation) on Faial.

In its native habitat, shown here on the island of Pico, M. faya may
grow in dense, mixed forest stands of native trees, collectively termed
"laurosilva". In such associations, trees are straight and spindly,
producing branches and foliage only at the top of the canopy.

M. faya frequently is found as a re-invader of old pastureland,
where it occurs in open stands, as shown here on upper slopes of the island of Pico.

Whereas most of the trees of M. faya observed in its native
habitats were small to midsized, we occasionally found rather large individuals. The
tree shown here, on the island of Gomera in the Canary Islands, was perhaps the largest
found.

The lands of lower elevations of the Azores are heavily utilized for agriculture, although
much of the land is rocky. Rocks are often gathered and used to form barriers
between small fields, or vinyards, such as shown on the island of Pico (left). We
found M. faya frequently invading such areas, both under active cultivation and
abandoned. Islands of Faial (middle), and Sao Miguel (right).

The island of Pico from Faial.

Madeira:

The island of Madeira, south of the Azores, is mountainous and rugged.
The mountainsides are cultivated, often through the use of a well-developed system
of terraces, where small crops, particularly potatoes, are grown. M. faya occurs
throughout the native forests, and in forest remnants. It is found in
and around the agricultural terraces and in other sites not actively cleared for
cultivation.

The Canary Islands:

The Canary Islands are situated off the
western coast of Africa, and are the southern-most archipelago upon which M. faya occurs
naturally. The climate of the Canaries is warmer and drier than that of the Azores
or Madeira. An abundance of M. faya was found in the Canaries, particularly
in those regions, such as on the island of Gomera, where the native vegetation had not
been severely displaced by agriculture or development. Because of the mountainous
terrain, an elaborate system of terracing has been developed for agriculture, as it has in
Madeira.